Air-bag cleaning and buffing machine



Sept. 14, 1948.

J. E. JOHNSON AIR BAG CLEANINGAND 'BUFFING MACHINE Filed March 12, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet l JOHN E. JOHNSON.

ATTORNEY.

p 1 1948- v E. JOHNSON 2,449,387

AIR BAG CLEANING AND BUFFING MACHINE Fil ed March 12, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 k k 0 O O QQQ *3 '3 Q N Q Q V v INVENTQR. JOHN E. JoHA/so/v:

'ATIORNEY.

Sept. 14, 1948- J. E. JOHNSON AIR BAG "CIQEANING AND BUFFING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 12, 1946 IN V EN TOR. JOHN E. JoH/vso/v ATTORNEK Patented Sept. 14, 1948 sr rss AL'TENT orr lcs aw ra-sac CLEANlNG-AND: BUFFING H MACHINE, v John Eric liohn sonywest Hartford, Conn., as-

, signer to National Sherardizing and Machine I3cmpany, Hartord, Conn;, a corporation of Qonnecticut Application March 12, 124$,Se1ialN0. 653,901

2 Claims.

1 This invention relates to machines which are designed for cleaning and bufiing surfaces, and more particularly the outer surfaces of air inflated rubber bags of the type which are used during the manufacture of tires in the cu'ringof cord l,

and balloon tires,such bags-having exterior 0utlines conforming approximately'to the interior of: the tires. l

The object of'thisinvention is to provide improvements to such machines as covered by my Patent l,735,9o3,'issued November-19, 1929.

The machine illustrated, which embodies the presentinvention is: similar to the machine covered in 'said patent with the eiiception that novel improvements have been made toincrease the eificiency ofthemachine and to permit im- "proved operation thereof for better results in cleaning the saidrubber bags.

As shown and describedin said patent, the machine has a rotatingtable with fingers for receiving and holding thebags, the fingers being radially adjustable in order to fit bags'of different diameters and the table being vertically adjustable to bring th bag surfaces into proper relation with the cleaning means. Mechanism is provided for rotatingthe table at different speeds so as to expose the entire circumference of the bags to the action of the cleaning means andat such a rate that the bags will be Completely cleaned. The cleaning means consists of, a rapidly running endless belt having, a surface coated with hard granular particles, such as carborundumof the necessary size to properly rub the surfaces of the bags. This belt passes around two pulleys, both of which are driven, and is held against the,

surfacesof the bag by a pressure roll which is mounted on slides that are adjustable vertically and longitudinally, so that the belt may, by proper adjustments, be brought into contact with the entire surfaces of the bags. Rollers are provided to guide and keep the proper tension on the belt and a roller is: adjustably mounted so as to support the bags beneath the locality where the cleaning belt is pressed against the bags. Means,

such as an air nozzle connected with a blower, may be provided for cleaning the belt of particles picked up during the operation of the machine' In theaccompanying drawings: Fig. 1 shows an eleyational view of such a ma chine as embodying the present invention.

Fig, 2 is anenlarsed ,elevational side view of h assuppcrtins portion of said machine Fig. 3 is an elevational'frontview of psaidporitio'n as adjusted tousupportczthebag. 1

Wlth'th bag in oneposition.

tically on the plate 2 I opposite end and a Work supporting column 8 intermediately on said bed. A work carriage is carried on the column 8 an d ascrew IE! is rotatably connected withthe lower part of said carriage and threaded through a sleeve l l at the end of a bracketlz which isfastened to the front of a supporting plate 21.

This screw is connected, as clearly described in theabove mentioned patent, for rotation by means of a hand wheel l3 to adjust the carriage '9 ver A worktable I4 is rotatably carried on the carriage 9 and connected with suitable gearingmechanism thereimsuch as fully described in the said patent, and driven by an electricmotor I5 which is also carried on the carriage and drives a shaft iii-that is connected to after a number of cleaning operations.

saidgearing mechanism in the same manner as the shaft 3! describedin said patent. The said gearing mechanism is not shown in the accompanying drawings but is fully illustrated and-described in the above mentioned patent, and it is therefore considered sufficient herein to specify that the carriage 9 is adjustable vertically on the plate z l by rotation of the wheel l3.

The present invention also includes-the cleaning-belt lland pressure roll it, th flange belt guide roll l9; the mechanism for adjusting these rolls for positioning the belt I! relatively to work orbag being cleaned and the driving mech- "anismfor moving said belt over the bag surface; 'allof which'is the same as that shown 'an'cldescribed in the above mentionedpatent.

' It has b'een found'in the usc of said machine, that there is atendency for the cleaning' belt to wearthesurface of therubber bag out of shape This is due tothe fact that the pressure roll It cannot be placed sufficiently past the center of the outer surface of the bag sothat the cleaning'operations onlopposite sides of the'bags will overlap sufiiciently-to permit even wearon the surface of the bag;- Placing =of the pressure roll l8 belowthe center ofthe wheel inthe machine as shownin the above patent would cause an unduly severe bend in the cleaning belt which would greatly shorten the life thereof. Furthermore, it has also been found that said pressure roll could not be positioned to clean the concaved surface in the side of the rubber bag without severe bending of the cleaning belt.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to pnovide novel means for said machine wherein the carriage 9 may be tilted, as shown in Fig. 3, to permit tilting of the work, such as the bag shown at 20, so that it may be positioned to better expose the surface which is to be cleaned to the cleaning belt.

As shown in the drawing, an embodiment of the present invention may comprise a construction wherein the carriage 9 is slidably mounted upon the supporting plate 21 which is connected to the casing 22 of the carriage by means of a dove-tail slot 23 therein and a tongue 24 on said supporting plate. The said supporting plate is rotatably mounted in the column 8, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5, by means of a shaft 25 which is rotatable in a bearing 26 and has connected thereto a worm gear 21 that is in mesh with a worm 28 on a shaft 29. As shown in Fig. 4, the said shaft carries a bevel gear 30 which meshes with a bevel gear 3| on a shaft 32 that is rotatable by a hand wheel 33. The bevel gears 30 and 3| are contained within a housing 34 whichprojects from the side of the column 8.

In the operation of said machine with the improvements hereinabove set out, the work, such as the bag 20, may be positioned relatively to the belt H to provide access for said belt to the surface which is to be cleaned with the minimum bend in the belt. This is accomplished by tilting the work, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, so that the belt will reach the different portions of the bags surfaces in a more efficient manner and with the requirement of minimum bending in the cleaning belt.

The carriage 9 may be raised or lowered to the desired position in the same manner as described in the above mentioned patent, this being done by rotation of the wheel l3, which turns the screw ID in the sleeve I I and raises or lowers the carriage 9 withthe work table I4 thereon on the supporting plate 2!. When it is desired to tilt the work for better access of its surfaces to the cleaning belt, the hand wheel 33 is rotated. This will rotate the shaft 29 with the worm 28 thereon through the bevel gears 30 and 3|. The said worm will rotate the worm gear 21 and, through the shaft 25, rotate the supporting plate 2|; thus the carriage 9 may be tilted to any desired angle.

Fnom the above description and the drawings, it will be. readily seen that the rubber bag 20 may be so adjusted that the pressure roll I8 willpress the cleaning belt into the concavity of the surface on the inner side of the said bag, for cleaning that portion of the surface, with a minimum of bend in the belt.

As ShOWn in Fig. 'Lthe bag may be tilted in an opposite direction relatively to the belt so that, with a minimum bend in the cleaning belt, the pressure roll may position the said belt against a portion of the peripheral and side surfaces of the bagto reach and clean the said surface up to a point beyond the center of the transverse curve of the peripheral surface of the bag, as indicated by the center line 35; thus, when the bag is turned around for cleaning the opposite side thereof and the belt is applied thereto, the

surface then cleaned by said belt will overlap the surface cleaned in the previous operation on the other side of the bag and thereby prevents disformation of the outer contour of the bag by uneven wear thereon which would cause a seam or lump to appear around the center of the outer surface of the bag, such as has appeared when the belt was not permitted to contact the surface beyond the center line.

It will be further understood that the improvements provided by the present invention will materially increase the life of the cleaning belt, due to the elimination of sharp bends therein when retained against the different portions of the bag surface and, at the same time, it will permit the said belt to clean the outer surface of the bags in a much more efficient manner and with better conformity to the contour of said surface and thereby prevent disformation of the bag.

I claim:

1. A machine of the character described for cleaning rubber bags or the like comprising a frame having a supporting member journaled therein, a plate supported by said member, a carriage vertically slidable on said plate for adjusting the carriage relatively to the plate, a table rotatable on said carriage in a horizontal plane for supporting a bag to be cleaned, a cleaning belt movable across the top of said table, gear mechanism in the frame for rotating said member and the plate thereon to adjustably tilt the carriage and thereby position the bag at different angles relatively to the belt, and means adjustable for retaining said belt in contact with a portion of the peripheral and side surfaces of the bag for a cleaning operation; the said means being adapted to retain the belt in contact with the bag up to a point past the center of the transverse curves of the peripheral surface of the bag whereby, when a similar operation is performed upon the opposite side of the bag, the contacted surfaces will overlap.

2. A machine of the character described for cleaning a rubber bag or the like comprising a supporting frame, a supporting member rotatable on a horizontal axis in said frame, a plate carried on said member, a carriage slidable vertically on said plate, a screw on said plate for slidably adjusting said carriage thereon, a table rotatable in a horizontal plane and mounted on said carriage for supporting a bag to be cleaned, means for rotating said table, an abrasive belt, means for carrying said belt and moving it across the top of said table and in a direction perpendicular to the axis of said member, and manually controlled gearing mechanism for tilting said carriage on the axis of the member in said frame to position the bag at different angles relatively to the belt. 7

JOHN ERIC JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS in the 

